Dollars & Sense Column - Orange Town News (Reprints)

(February 8, 2018) Whether you are 25 or 65, getting married is exciting; however, it brings many challenges for couples. The majority of first marriages today will involve joining together two incomes, two retirement plans, two different health insurance plans and maybe even two totally different approaches to short and long term savings. Second marriages have their own financial challenges as they can involve...

(February 8, 2018) Valentine’s Day is almost here — and it’s a pretty big business. In fact, U.S. consumers spent about $18 billion on their valentines in 2017, according to the National Retail Federation. Of course, recipients certainly appreciate flowers, candy, jewelry and so on, but this year, consider going beyond the traditional favorites to give your loved ones something more long-lasting — a financial gift...

(January 11, 2018) On December 22, 2017, the President signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the act or TCJA). The legislation makes significant changes to the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), including individual, corporate, and gift and estate taxation...

(October 31, 2017) When is the last time you reviewed your 401k elections? If you started your 401k plan years and years ago, more than likely it is on auto-pilot. You elected a fixed percentage of pay as well as where you want your contributions to be invested. You have set-it up and now you can forget it! Nothing could be further from the truth

(May 24, 2017) The remainder of 2017 will have today’s 1.3 million active-duty service members learning about the changes in their retirement benefits and they will have all of 2018 to decide which retirement plan will be best for their future. The good news is that they will still have the option of preserving the traditional military pension or they can choose to opt into the new “blended” benefits package. However, anyone joining the military on or after January 1, 2018, will automatically be enrolled in the new plan...

(April 30, 2017) A few years ago TheBeFrugal.com conducted a Mother’s Day Survey to learn more about the affect a mom’s financial advice had on their children. The online survey (by The Omnibus Company in 2015) targeted 1000 Moms over the age of 18. It should not come as a surprise that 81% of those surveyed said that their mothers have shared financial wisdom with them, and 85% say that their mom taught them to be frugal...

(April 6, 2017) How many times have we heard the old adage “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket”? In the past that advice was specific to making sure you had a well-diversified investment portfolio. Meaning you wouldn’t want to have 100% of your retirement dollars in one stock, or one holding...

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